On Tuesday, we introduce another way to mark the accomplishments of young people with a new feature called Young Achievers.

Each week, we will bring you news and insightful profiles of young people in our region who are excelling in academics, the arts, public service and a variety of other settings that are richer because of their involvement.

On Tuesday, for instance, you will meet Manasvi Koul. Manasvi's personal battle with a potentially fatal illness motivated her to raise more than $500,000 in support of other sick children while she was still a high school student in Union County.

Young Achievers will appear in our printed edition as two full-color pages inside our Carolina Living section. Online, you will find that content, plus videos, photo slideshows, archives and the means to share your own stories about inspiring young people.

Some readers may be surprised to see added community coverage in an era when the trend has been for most news media to cut back.

This is possible through a new funding model the Observer is developing for coverage that you would welcome. Under this approach, we find a company, foundation or individual willing to underwrite the cost of high-quality content as an important investment in the life of its community.

Similar to underwriters of content on NPR and PBS, our underwriters play no role in the selection or editing of the content. But their support is a high-profile commitment to coverage that is good for our region.

This is how we are able to bring you our widely acclaimed Sci-Tech section each Monday. Its exclusive coverage of advances in science and technology across the Carolinas is underwritten by Duke Energy.

For Young Achievers, we found another willing underwriter: Piedmont Natural Gas.

"We see this as a wonderful opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of young people throughout our community and to show appreciation for the contributions they are making, not only in their own lives but in the lives of others," said Thomas Skains, Piedmont's chairman, president, and CEO. "I have no doubt that the talents, energy, and passion represented . . . will be as impressive as they are inspirational to us all."

Of course, there are many more young people deserving of recognition than we can mention in any weekly package. So this coverage is in addition to ongoing schools and youth-oriented features you find now in our community sections and daily news coverage. Many of those features also invite you to submit an idea or an item for publication.

Our goal is that, with your help, we will leave no significant achievement unrecognized.

I think you will be touched and encouraged by what you read. These are remarkable individuals. To know them through their personal experiences is to appreciate all the more how far they have come already in such young lives.

All readers should be aware, as editors have been for some centuries, that this is a terrible, slippery slope. Shall readers now have to underwrite the coverage of news that the editor du jour thinks that readers will NOT welcome?

Steve, thanks. I should add to what's been said that the Observer remains as committed to public service journalism as it has always been. This is also true of other media that employ underwriting, including NPR and PBS. In fact, some of the most aggressive investigative reporting in American journalism presently is conducted by Pro Publica, which is wholly underwritten. The concept of underwriting is just one form of revenue helping the Observer support quality content. Advertising and subscriptions continue to be the majority of that support.

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About this blog

I'm Rick Thames, executive editor of The Charlotte Observer. I grew up in eastern N.C., and have also worked at papers in Florida, Tennessee and Kansas. At The Observer, I oversee all news, sports, business and features content: local, state, national and international. I do not supervise our editorial pages. They are the responsibility of Taylor Batten, our editorial page editor. Taylor and I report to the publisher, Ann Caulkins. I believe a newspaper can, and should, be an asset in its communities. It should inform, enlighten and inspire as it safeguards a free and self-governing society. I love what I do, and I wish the same for you.

Rick is happy to answer your questions:email them and he'll answer them here.